What we don’t do

How you can help

Emergencies

Please do not use our online “Report It” or email to contact us in an emergency. You can call us on:

01202 261700 08.30-17.15 Monday to Thursday,08.30-16.45 Friday

0800 506050 Outside normal opening hours

We aim to respond immediately to:

Road Traffic Incidents

Broken Glass

Fuel Spillage

Offensive Graffiti

Imminent risks to health, or acute pollution of the environment

Our Responsibility

No one wants to live, work or visit a borough where rubbish is left on the pavement, fly-posting covers street furniture and where graffiti is visible. In Poole we provide a range of services committed to maintaining our streets and making the borough a more attractive place to live.

We have a responsibility for keeping Poole’s streets clean, employing over 50 members of staff and utilising innovative high tech equipment. All areas within Poole are cleaned to standards which are defined in the Environmental Protection Act, 1990; Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.

We regularly cleanse, according to need, approximately 300 miles of public roads and footpaths and 339 hectares of open spaces including Poole's beaches of litter, dog fouling and detritus. Streets are swept between 06:30 & 22:00 throughout the Summer and 06:30 & 17:30 throughout Winter seven days a week.

We closely monitor the standard of street cleansing in accordance with Keep Britain Tidy's Local Environment Quality Survey guidance and any land that does not reach an acceptable standard is rectified.

Please note: Cleansing of 'main roads' e.g. dual carriageways requires us by law to abide by the Chapter 8 Traffic Signs Manual 2006. This refers to the setting up of traffic management to ensure the safety of operatives working in an environment where they are likely to encounter vehicles moving at speed. This involves the use of specialist resources which due to high demand are programmed in advance as part of an annual cleansing plan.

As such any requests for additional cleansing of the following roads may be subject to unavoidable delay due to the scheduling of resources. We will of course endeavour to respond as soon as operationally possible.

If you have a hedge outside your property, make sure it does not obstruct or overhang any footpaths. Vegetation overhanging the highway is a hazard to people walking by and an obstruction to our staff trying to clean pavements. High hedges can also be a nuisance.

If you have a gravel driveway, make sure it does not encroach onto the public highway. Loose gravel is a hazard to people using the footpath and an additional pressure on the cleansing service.

Dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets can receive a fixed penalty notice.

Whether you are eating on the go, or cleaning out your pockets on the way to work, find the nearest litter bin and use it! Litter is dangerous to pets and wildlife, encourages pests such as rats and spoils the appearance of the borough. If you are caught littering you could receive a fixed penalty notice.

Please report it to us if you notice an area affected by graffiti, fly posting or fly tipping. If you see a litter bin that has been damaged or hasn't been emptied please use our report it page.